Maybe this is how the colours of human imagination flow. These palettes could symbolise chaotic mind patterns — an uncharted map of love, emotional turmoil, pain and occasional bursts of happiness.
Malvika Jey’s exhibition consists of vivid canvases that echo complex thoughts running through our minds every day. Says the artist, “My art focusses on colour and detail: two important elements of life that remain hidden in plain sight. I find beauty and inspiration in these two elements, as they work on coherence, it creates magic.”
This special series concentrates on daily life; its ups and downs. “I was locked in a room for 120 days to explore my thoughts. I wasn’t interacting with anyone. Some paintings took me two hours, while some others almost two months,” says the self-taught artist who has been painting for the last 20 years.
Dreams form the underlying narrative of these frames. The abstract shapes manifested in bold reds, neon greens and blacks represent the subconscious thoughts we struggle to put into words. The paintings are presented with soulful quotes, most of which are penned by the artist herself. For instance, an acrylic canvas bathed in red, interspersed with blue, black, pink and white streaks called Wild Sun, has an interesting quote she found on Instagram beneath it: “When it was dark, you always carried the sun in your hand for me.” And, then, there are wild, meandering geometric patterns too. Like in Wild Glitch; a painting with an oceanic background that could be interpreted as a whirlpool of emotions. The quote that runs below it says, “Systematic behaviour and evolutionary process, free yourself from the old pattern, make change and master the new pattern.”
Jey has also employed mixed media on canvas. Symmetric Life, Asteroids, Purple, Blue Embers and Moon Circle: these round paint boards look surreal; at once reminding you of faraway galaxies and planets. The paintings, hanging on a black backdrop in the gallery, are other-worldly and bewitching.
A strong theme of mental health and soulful living connects all the paintings here. Unsurprising, given depression and psychological well-being is so widely talked about these days. Jey reflects on these preoccupations through her works. Take Cold Light of Day, a simple, yet poignant frame in smooth blues, yellows, and a dash of purple here and a red there. Lines shoot from the central point of the canvas like sun rays.
The quote goes: “Here’s to all the brave souls who were determined to find the light while going through hell. Keep going.” Artists like Jey keep reminding us why we need occasional doses of art in our daily lives to maintain peace and harmony within us. Jey’s is an attempt to reclaim the status of art as a source of power to heal the human mind, and not just pretty things to look at.
As you leave the gallery, one image is sure to haunt you: the work titled Sweet Little Orange, the artist’s herculean attempt to explain the language of the heart in the form of art. The acrylic painting in red and yellow with black and white patches in the middle, speaks to us in a way only the heart comprehends.
The exhibition is on till June 23 at Focus Art Gallery, Egmore, from 10 am to 8 pm. Follow Jey’s works on malvika_futuristicdimension
